Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend our former colleague and current Secretary of the Army, John McHugh. He rightly stated last weekend that the United States Army--the proudest and most professional fighting force on Earth--is fully capable of accepting openly gay and lesbian Americans into service and ending the unworkable and unconscionable policy of ``don't ask, don't tell.''

We have all heard the tired arguments of why all Americans who choose to serve should not be allowed to serve, but those arguments belong to an intolerant past. The men and women who make up today's Armed Forces are modern, highly informed Americans who have grown up in an era more accepting of individual differences. As Secretary McHugh said, ``The Army has a big history of taking on similar issues with predictions of doom and gloom that did not play out.''

At long last, the United States military is ready to be representative of all the people of the United States. It's time now for Congress to act and send legislation to the President asking him to end ``don't ask, don't tell'' once and for all.

Madam Speaker, this year marks the 50th Anniversary of William H. Crocker Middle School in Hillsborough, California.

Crocker Middle School has been recognized as a California Distinguished School seven times, most recently in 2007, and is one of only three schools in the entire nation to be awarded a National Blue Ribbon for Secondary Schools on four occasions. Among the school's many other rewards, in 1993, Crocker was named to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science's ``Top Five World Class Schools.''

Crocker Middle School has served the community by constantly reviewing and improving its curriculum and continually striving for academic excellence. The newest addition to the Crocker campus is a building housing a state-of-the-art studio for Hillsborough Television (HTV), band and music instruction rooms, a lecture hall modeled after facilities at Harvard University, and much needed classrooms. This completed a ten year Hillsborough School District renovation project.

Madam Speaker, William H. Crocker Middle School has educated my own children, Jackson and Stephanie, so I can vouch first-hand to its excellence and the caring and passion of its incredible staff. In addition to strong academic programs in English, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign language, and physical education, Crocker offers electives in the arts and personal development skills such as leadership and public speaking.

The entire Crocker School family believes strongly that its role is to help each child build a foundation that will serve her or him for their entire life. Every aspect of its educational curriculum is designed to build a close, caring community in which every child and every adult is recognized and respected.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to be a William H. Crocker Middle School parent and I salute Crocker's longtime principal, Janet Chun, who has been a beacon of expanded learning that includes a strong community service component. She follows in the impressive footsteps of her predecessors, Fred Schwartz, Carl Zon, Marilyn Loushin Miller, Dan Kreuzer and Larry Raffo, all of whom deserve our recognition and our gratitude. I congratulate everyone in the Crocker community for half a century of academic and community achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of H.R. 2442 and salute my good friend and colleague, Mr. Miller, on his good work.

This bill will provide, as has been said already, 2.6 billion gallons of water per year to drought-stricken California, adding enough water supply to meet the demands for nearly 25,000 households, and it will also generate, either direct or indirectly, 3,500 jobs.

Mr. Speaker, attacking a water recycling measure that is designed to help all of California is truly counterproductive. The North Coast County Water District, based in Pacifica in my congressional district, has said, ``As California continues to experience drought conditions, increased demand for water, and strain on the Delta ecosystem, alternative water supplies like those authorized in H.R. 2442 provide a long-term sustainable solution essential to California's economy.''

The bottom line is that Republicans and Democrats alike agree that water

recycling helps reduce stress on California's fragile freshwater system, and they have approved water recycling projects for California and across the Western region on a bipartisan basis in Congress. I hope we can do that again.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Berman, Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen, the subcommittee chairman Mr. Faleomavaega, and Ranking Member Manzullo for shepherding this resolution through the Foreign Affairs Committee so swiftly.

I also want to single out Chairman Faleomavaega for his exceptional leadership representing American Samoa. I am blessed with many Samoan friends and constituents in my district, and I am a proud cosponsor of the chairman's resolution recognizing the relief efforts in American Samoa and Samoa.

Likewise, I want to commend Congressman Burton for introducing a similar resolution recognizing the devastation in Indonesia, of which I am also a cosponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 800, which I introduced shortly after two successive typhoons hit the Republic of the Philippines. Tragically, the situation has worsened since then, and the death toll is now estimated at more than 600. In addition, millions more are displaced and estimates of damage run well into the billions of dollars.

On September 26, Typhoon Ketsana battered Manila and nearby provinces, resulting in at least 337 deaths, 308 injured, and 37 missing. Then, just one week later, as Filipinos labored around the clock on recovery efforts, Typhoon Parma struck Luzon, the heart of the Philippine agricultural region which supplies half of the nation's supply of rice. Typhoon Parma decimated roads, bridges, entire villages, and vast tracts of rice patties waiting to be harvested later this month.

Nearly 200 have perished from this second typhoon, with many still missing and countless more families grieving their loved ones. It is clear that the people of the Philippines will be profoundly affected by these twin tragedies long after the water has receded and the streets swept clean of mud and debris. House Resolution 800 recognizes the hardship caused by Typhoons Ketsana and Parma and salutes the resilience and strength of our friends, the Filipino people.

My resolution also urges our government to continue providing emergency relief, logistical support, and financial assistance, and to work with Philippine officials and nongovernment organizations to improve disaster preparedness programs to mitigate the heartbreak, havoc and loss of life that could be caused by future storms.

Mr. Speaker, the historical and cultural links between the Philippines and the United States run deeper than any flood waters. I am honored to represent the largest Filipino American community of any district in the continental United States. Nationally, Americans of Filipino descent are the second largest population of Asian Americans in our country, numbering some 3.1 million Americans.

I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 800 to show our friends, the good people of the Philippines, that as they stood with us in World War II, the American people stand with them during this time of great need.

Mr. Speaker, more than one in 10 of fellow Californians is out of work. This is due in part to decisions made 3,000 miles away by analysts at America's credit rating agencies ranking funds at AIG and Lehman Brothers as AA or AAA one day, only to have these companies bankrupt the next.

Last week at the Financial Services Committee hearing, I asked the executives of the rating agencies why they kept Lehman Brothers so highly rated when there were plenty of warning signs they were in trouble. The answer I got was astounding. They kept Lehman highly rated because they assumed the government would bail it out. I then asked how many of these analysts who base these decisions on assumptions rather than evidence lost their jobs. Again, the answer was unfathomable: none, not one.

Mr. Speaker, I did not come down to the floor this morning to seek retribution, but rather some common sense. This situation underscores the urgent need to enact strong financial regulatory reform and specifically make the rating agencies accountable for their decisions.

When the decisions of a few in a Manhattan skyscraper affect the livelihoods of hardworking Americans all across our country, there must be accountability.

Madam Speaker, every weekday morning, millions of parents send our children off to school, entrusting their care to the teachers, administrators and other professionals who do their best to make school as safe and supportive an environment as possible. Yet we are reminded, far too often, that no one's safety is guaranteed if a disturbed person or group is intent on committing an act of violence.

On August 24th, a former student with his mind set on mayhem entered the campus of San Mateo California's Hillsdale High School with enough weapons and explosive devices to kill or injure hundreds. The remarkable fact that no one was seriously hurt is due entirely to the heroic efforts of the staff who, according to Principal Jeffrey Gilbert, ``More ran toward the explosion than away from it.''

Student services aide Jana Torres, a district employee since 2001 and known for her strong relationship with students, saw the attacker attempting to start a chainsaw and yelled at him to stop. Instead, he lit a pipe bomb and hurled it at her. Disregarding her own safety, Ms. Torres called for help and jumped over the device to pursue the attacker as the pipe bomb detonated behind her.

Just as a second bomb went off, 12-year teaching veteran Kennet Santana, a favorite among students for his innate ability to inspire and motivate young people, tackled the running assailant before he could ignite more of the home-made bombs he had strapped to his vest.

Coming to Kennet's aid were Principal Gilbert, a former Hillsdale teacher known for his easy-going and patient manner, and counselor Edgardo Canda, another former teacher who has found his calling as a counselor, able to relate to students on many levels. They helped subdue and hold the attacker until police arrived.

Madam Speaker, at that point in time, none of these heroes knew if-- or how many--others were part of this plot or if the bombs strapped to the desperate young man's vest were about to detonate.

Ms. Torres, Mr. Santana, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Canda have rightly and appropriately been singled out by their community. They, along with the brave officers of the San Mateo Police Department, in particular the first responders--Captain Kevin Raffaelli and Officers Rick Apecechea, Jeff Dellinges and Roberto Gonzalez--deserve our gratitude for their selfless acts of heroism.

So, too, does the entire staff at Hillsdale High School that morning. As Principal Gilbert said, ``We're getting a lot of the credit but there were a lot of teachers who basically stood their ground and said we're going to do whatever it takes to protect our kids.''

Madam Speaker, our entire nation is eternally grateful for the dedication of these and so many other public education professionals who, every day at schools across this country, take on the awesome responsibility of doing ``whatever it takes'' to educate, prepare, and protect our children.

Madam Speaker, yesterday, both Warren Buffett and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession is very likely over. While most Americans are still months away from experiencing any sign of recovery firsthand, we can take heart in the fact that, as a Nation, we have just managed to avoid the economic precipice we faced just 1 year ago.

Just 200 days since the passage of the stimulus bill, 30,000 construction projects have begun. Jobs of 5,000 police officers and nurses and of 135,000 teachers have been saved; and all across our great country, Americans are working to rebuild the economy. From veterans who are going to college on the GI Bill, to entrepreneurs who are developing innovative technologies for clean energy, to the work we're doing here in Congress to reform our financial regulations and to ensure that all Americans have access to quality medical care, our job has just begun.

It is still too early to celebrate success, but it is time to encourage those policies that work and to have the courage to change those that are in need of reform.

Mr. Speaker, ever since President Truman proposed a system

to keep Americans from going bankrupt due to medical bills, the for- profit insurance industry has painted any effort at reform as un- American. I want to talk today about health and wealth.

Unlike then, there is now broad consensus that our system is unsustainable. Premiums are rising at three times the rate of inflation, 4,000 Americans are losing their coverage every day, and more and more are unable to get insurance simply because they have preexisting conditions. Still, those who profit most by the status quo, the for-profit insurers, continue to lie to the American people while they take home between $70,000 a day and $300,000 a day.

Let me be clear: no one in Congress is trying to nationalize medical care. On the contrary, providing Americans a basic low-cost public option simply expands access so that consumers can visit the doctors of their choice.

It's time we start caring less about making private insurance companies and their CEOs wealthy and get back to making Americans healthy.

Madam Speaker, 100 years ago, Francis ``Butch'' Taylor was born in Akron, Iowa and shortly after, made the journey west with his family to California. While completing his graduate degree in Social Work at the University of California, Berkeley, he married Betty Lou Taylor. Intrigued by their common last name, they spoke, fell in love and married in 1940. A year later Butch was hired as the Assistant Field Director for the American Red Cross and assigned to the Presidio Army base in San Francisco.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Taylor was indispensable in keeping up with the rapidly increasing responsibilities of the American Red Cross as service to the military grew exponentially. In 1943, he was dispatched with 36 other Red Cross employees on a Liberty ship-- part of a hundred-ship convoy to Algeria. Upon transferring to British troopships in the Mediterranean, the convoy was attacked by German planes, resulting in the loss of three Red Cross men and more than 1,100 American troops. Butch continued on to Bombay and Calcutta, India and eventually arrived in southern China, where he became Field Supervisor in charge of Red Cross Services to the armed forces in China.

After the Communists took power in China, Mr. Taylor returned home to California and became manager of the San Mateo Chapter of the Red Cross, later assisting in its merger with the San Francisco Chapter.

Madam Speaker, I owe a personal debt to this remarkable man. In 1965, when I was a teenage volunteer with the Red Cross Youth, Butch Taylor inspired me with his passion for public service and encouraged me to chart a similar course. Like so many others, my life would be very different were it not for Butch Taylor.

Upon his retirement from the Red Cross, Butch went to work for FEMA, serving the Western Region--including Guam, Hawaii and Samoa--and assisted with floods in the Sacramento Delta and other local emergencies throughout the 1970s.

Butch and Betty Lou have two children, Mike and Trish, and a grandson, Mark. Butch continues to be involved with the Burlingame Rotary Club and still attends functions every Monday. Next year, Butch and Betty Lou will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.

Madam Speaker, few men or women can say with absolute certainty that their service made the world a better place. Butch Taylor is one who can. And for that, we are all eternally grateful.

Madam Speaker, when Dr. J. Michael Bishop retired as Chancellor of UCSF on June 30, 2009, our premier research institution lost not only its leader, but one of the greatest minds ever to serve at its helm.

In 1989, Dr. Bishop was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his advancements in understanding the origins of cancer. His groundbreaking discovery of proto-oncogenes--genes that can be converted to cancer genes by genetic damage--revolutionized the way medical professionals looked at the detection and treatment of cancer.

He has received numerous other distinguished honors including the National Medal of Science and an appointment as Chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board created by President Bill Clinton.

This is all the more remarkable when you learn that Dr. Bishop's education began in a two-room school in Pennsylvania where the science curriculum was limited to the collection and pressing of flowers. True to his humble nature, he asked that he receive no special recognition on his retirement, but nonetheless, our community and our nation owe an immense debt of gratitude to Dr. Bishop.

During the ten years he served as Chancellor of UCSF, Dr. Bishop oversaw monumental achievements and growth to an already distinguished institution. The construction of the Mission Bay campus will result in 57.5 acres focused on innovative ideas from scholars and scientists.

Madam Speaker, I met Dr. Bishop when he first became Chancellor and was immediately struck by his humility, his engaging personality and his ability to explain science to audiences at every level. He exemplifies everything that is exceptional about UCSF--leadership, innovative thinking, and a commitment to public service through research and medical advancements.

Dr. Bishop has focused a great deal on creating an environment that emphasizes a balance between the personal and professional. This is without a doubt the result of his marriage to the love of his life, Kathryn Ione Putman and their two sons, Dylan Michael Dwight and Eliot John Putman.

Madam Speaker, Dr. Bishop is no longer in the Chancellor's office, but without a doubt, his legacy as an educator, scientist, Nobel Prize winner, and cancer researcher will be felt for generations at UCSF and around the world.

Madam Speaker, mention John Carver's name on the San Francisco Peninsula and, odds are, you will be met with a smile. The long-time resident, business executive and philanthropist has helped more people than even he is aware and has shaped his community through his generosity, his leadership and his time.

John was born in Oakland and moved to the Peninsula with his family as a boy. After graduating from Stanford University, he married the love of his life, Susan Haigh Carver. Together, they raised three children, Thomas, Amy and Jonathan and have since been blessed with seven grandchildren: Jessica, Matthew, Christian, Ian, Caleb, Danika and Liam. This year, John and Susan will celebrate fifty years of marriage.

To know John Carver is to be in awe of him. His sense of humor is legendary and, while I did not know him as a young man, seeing John at 75 makes me only wonder what energy and passion he must have exhibited in his twenties and thirties.

John worked in retail most of his professional career, serving stints at Macy's, JC Penney and Bullock's. But John's home and heart was with the Gap, helping build the locally-based retailer into the global powerhouse it is today. For more than 25 years, John served in a variety of positions and it is through his work at the Gap that so many came to know his generosity, good-nature and phenomenal leadership abilities.

Madam Speaker, I have come to know John well in recent years, being privileged to serve with him on the board of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, an organization that is responsible for pumping more than $70 million into worthy causes and non-profits around the Bay Area. But John's community involvement hardly stops there. He has also given his time, resources and knowledge to organizations as diverse as the Thacher School, Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation, Family Service Agency of San Mateo County, Hillsborough Beautification Foundation, SF Jobs for Youth, Coyote Point Museum, American Cancer Society, and A Better Chance.

John's greatest impact, however, might very well be the thoughtful and patient mentoring

he has provided for dozens of Bay Area men and women. Whether it is career advice, help in making an important decision, or just sharing the wisdom of a man who has done it all, John is eager to help and always more than generous with his time.

Madam Speaker, I am privileged to call John Carver my friend and fortunate to represent him in the United States Congress. My only wish is that our earth was blessed with more John Carvers.

Madam Speaker, I pay tribute today to a man of God who dedicated his life to improving the lives of those less fortunate. Father Floyd Lotito, the heart and soul of St. Anthony's Dining Room, left our world on July 14, ending his long and valiant struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Born in Los Angeles, as Alfonso Joseph Lotito, he took Floyd as his religious name when he entered the Franciscan Order in 1953, prior to being ordained into the priesthood seven years later. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Old Mission Theological Seminary in Santa Barbara and his Masters in Speech and Communication Arts from Marquette University.

Before joining the St. Anthony Foundation in 1968, Father Floyd spent time as a high school teacher in Santa Barbara and as a parish priest in communities all across our country.

When I think of Father Floyd, I remember a man who knew everyone's name, yet called us all ``brother'' or ``sister'' as a sign of respect. He went out of his way to make people feel special and was known locally for his annual Blessing of the Taxi Fleet and the Blessing of the Animals.

Father Floyd's wisdom and eloquence garnered him invitations to give the benediction at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, the opening of Pacific Bell Park in 2000, and many others.

The St. Anthony Foundation has ministered to the poor and down-on- their-luck for more than 40 years, in large part due to Father Floyd's ability to reach people of all types in profoundly personal ways. He did not see rich or poor, he only saw those who could help and those who needed help.

Father Floyd held many positions at St. Anthony's, but nearest to his heart was the St. Anthony Dining Room. Opened in 1981, it is now the leading free-meal program in the city, providing more than 2,500 meals a day to San Francisco's poor. Earlier this year, Father Floyd served his 35 millionth meal.

Madam Speaker, our community is fortunate to have been blessed with Father Floyd. He leaves our community better than he found it and it brightens my heart to know that San Francisco has yet another angel to help guide us.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts.

In section 4 of the bill, it defines the term ``covered financial institutions'' to include depository institutions, broker dealers, credit unions and investment advisers but also authorizes the appropriate Federal regulators to designate jointly, by rule, other financial institutions that are covered. Because this authority is granted to appropriate Federal regulators, can we assume that entities not regulated by a Federal financial regulator are not intended to be ``covered financial institutions''?

I would like to talk about a dirty little secret about the insurance industry. It's called recision, and the health care reform bill will ban it.

Consumers who have paid their premiums on time for years are suddenly cut loose by their insurer because they have the audacity of getting ill. These are people with severe medical conditions who depend on their coverage. It could be devastating when the lifeline that they've paid for is suddenly yanked away.

A woman recently addressed the Congress about having an insurance policy canceled days before her mastectomy surgery. The reason, she was told, is because she didn't disclose on her application that she had suffered from acne.

Recision is an inhumane and abusive practice. The good news is recision is outlawed in the House health care reform bill. Never again should anyone have to worry that their insurance that they've paid for will be canceled if they get sick.

The American people have an indomitable spirit, and judging from my constituents, they don't expect the Federal Government to come to their aid for every problem. But they also don't expect us to stand in their way when they are trying to save lives and property.

The massive flooding and loss of life following Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for those of us who live along our Nation's beautiful coasts, bays, lakes and rivers. I represent the San Francisco Peninsula. As the name suggests, there is hardly a spot in my district where you can't see water. Currently, an advanced new levee system is being constructed to protect parts of three cities along San Francisco Bay. The levee is being built with local money. The residents have voted to tax themselves to do it. This is exactly how it should be, communities handling their issues themselves.

But currently, FEMA only recognizes Federally funded or managed projects. So, despite the fact that these levees are built to the exact same specifications, until the project is completed, homeowners and businesses in those areas will be forced to pay dramatically higher flood insurance, and any new construction will be required to be built on stilts above where the flood plain would be if the levees had not been built or improved. Imagine putting homes on stilts in an earthquake area. It just doesn't make sense.

Again, the levees are not the issue. These levees are being built to Federal standards. The only reason that tens of thousands of hardworking Americans will have to pay thousands of dollars more in insurance and local builders will have to put their buildings on stilts is because the forward-thinking residents of San Mateo, Foster City and Redwood Shores decided to improve their levees without Federal dollars.

I urge the passage of this amendment and this bill.